Moving On

You may or may not have heard, you may or may not have heard rumours, you may or may not even care, but the truth is I’m moving to Brandon, Manitoba. No I will not be cheering for the Blue Bombers – let’s get that out of the way right away. It is really exciting to dream about the future holds, but at the same time extremely hard to leave what I have come to know as home for over four years now.

Over the past number of months I was becoming more and more aware of the differences in goals and vision between myself and the I’ve been associate pastor in for four years now and it finally came to the point I realized that it would be better for myself and the church if we just agreed to go our separate ways. So I started looking for other ministry opportunities and soon got in touch with Richmond Park MB Church in Brandon. Over the course of couple months of questions and interviews and meetings I became pretty confident that this church would be a great fit for me and my family and they seemed to agree asking me to start as lead pastor there as of September 1.

It is a weird feeling. I am really excited to get started at the church there in Brandon. The fact that the city has a Taco Bell, Starbucks, and two EB Games is definitely a bonus. But, it is a really weird experience having to leave this church I am in.

Leaving a position at a church is different from leaving any other job in the world. I’ve quit and left a number of jobs in my life without any emotional hangups. All you do is give your two weeks notice and leave when you are done. Leaving a position at a church is more like breaking up with a fiancee. You may not have been committed to each other for life, but you never start at a church with the intent of leaving it. A lot of deep emotional attachments are grown over even just a few years and it is like ripping your beating heart out of your chest to try and just up and leave. Even knowing it is the right decision beyond any shadow of a doubt does not help to dampen the pain very much. I knew it would be hard to explain to people that I am leaving and that it is nothing personal against them, but at the same time I understand that most people do likely take it at least a little bit personally. I am using this last month or so I have here trying to tie up loose ends, and make sure that the people I love here feel loved.

I have always hated the process of moving and being forced to live out of boxes for weeks at a time – never really feeling at home in one place or the other. I am just hoping that the move goes easily, we can settle in quickly, and that I can find solace in the middle of a burrito supreme and the bottom of a venti, non-fat, cafe mocha.

Congrats! I can totally relate to the whole feeling of leaving. But contrary to what some people may have you believe, leaving a church does not mean that you need to end the relationships there.

I hope that Manitoba is a great fit for you and that it takes you as a leader into a huge world of opportunities! But that will only happen when you dump your allegiance to those Roughriders and put on the Blue and Gold!

Seriously though…all the best! I’ll look forward to hearing more about your journey on here!